As per community consultations in the fall & winter, Kensington Market’s new planters with swing-gates are finally being installed this evening, and will be filled/planted on July 26 with a variety of native grasses.
In collaboration with Councillor Adam Vaughan, the Kensington Market BIA will hold a brief media launch on the morning of Friday July 27th.
The City of Toronto, and the Kensington Market BIA worked cooperatively to develop a swinging gate attached to a planter following 8 years of temporary road closures in Kensington for Pedestrian Sundays.
This new seasonally permanent infrastructure will allow the streets of the market to more easily function as pedestrian priority zones during permitted street events.
These swing-gates are attached to a planter at one side of the street in roughly the same locations as the temporary barriers used for Pedestrian Sunday events. The swing-gate barrier can be easily rolled out across the street – they are moveable allowing emergency vehicles to access the neighbourhood.
These planters/swing-gates, which each feature an iconic photograph of Kensington Market that has been lasered into the steel gate, are owned and paid for by the Public Realm Office, and will be maintained by the Kensington Market BIA. The City will remove the planters/gates in the fall for snow removal purposes over the winter.